Hearts Divided (Cedar Cove #5.5)(39)

“Could you describe him?”

She called up the image of the man at David’s shop and told Jake the few things she remembered.

“Any distinctive features?” Jake asked.

“No.”

“Have you seen the man since then?”

“No.”

“But you still feel as if someone’s following you.” Jake’s words were more a confirmation than a question.

Chloe stared at him. His face was set in grim lines. Despite the sunshine that poured through the window behind her, Chloe shivered. “You think I’m being stalked. You believe me.”

“Yes.” Jake’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve gone pale as a ghost.”

Chloe crossed her arms. The short-sleeved, light cotton sweater she wore over her sleeveless summer dress suddenly wasn’t heavy enough to warm her. “Telling you about it has somehow made it more real.”

“I didn’t mean to scare you more than you already are, Chloe.” Jake stretched across the table and took her hand, folding it between his palms. The heat from his hands warmed her chilled fingers and reached past the fear to stir the sexual awareness that always simmered just below the surface when he was near. “We’ll find out who the man is, why he’s following you and what he wants.”

“But I didn’t know the man I saw through the window. I have no idea who he is or why he’d follow me.”

“First things first. We should tell the police. Even though you don’t have a lot of information, they can at least take a report and establish a file. Who knows?” Jake shrugged. “Maybe something you tell them will fit into a bigger puzzle, since we have no idea what connection you have with this man.”

“I have a one o’clock lecture, but after that I’m free for the rest of the afternoon. I’ll drive downtown to the Seattle Police Department when I’m finished.”

“I’ll make a couple of calls. I’m sure they’ll send an officer out here to talk with you.”

“I’d rather meet the officer off campus. I’d like to keep this from my colleagues and students, if possible.”

“All right.” Jake looked at his watch. “We’d better leave if you’re going to make your one o’clock class.”

“Is it that late already?” Chloe checked her own watch, slid out of the booth and grabbed her purse, waiting while Jake paid their bill.

He took her arm as they left the restaurant, surveying the student and faculty pedestrians as they crossed the campus.

“As first dates go, this has been memorable,” he said when they reached her office at Liberty Hall. He leaned against the doorjamb, waiting for her.

Chloe slipped her lecture notes and two volumes of poetry into her briefcase and rejoined him. “Are you telling me most women you take out for pizza don’t require bodyguard services?” she asked wryly.

“Not usually, no.” He looked sideways at her and grinned. Sunlight shafted through the high windows at the end of the hall and burnished his dark hair. Chloe couldn’t help smiling back. She felt safer with him nearby.

She touched his hand. “Thank you,” she said softly. “I didn’t realize how worried I’ve been. I feel safer just knowing you’re taking me seriously.”

His eyes darkened and he covered her hand with his, trapping her fingers against his warm skin. “I’m glad.”

A door slammed down the hall, the noise breaking the charged moment between them, and Chloe slipped her hand from his. “I’d better go.”

“I’ll walk with you.”

Jake fell into step beside her as they left Liberty Hall and walked the short distance to her classroom. She said goodbye and entered the lecture hall on the lower level; Jake followed her, stopping on the threshold to peruse the room. Directly in front of him was a speaker’s table where Chloe was arranging a couple of books and a sheaf of notes. Beyond the small instructor area, theater seats rose in tiers to a set of upper doors where students were entering. The room was filling quickly. Satisfied that Chloe was safe for the moment, Jake stepped outside, lowered the doorstop to keep the door open and moved to the shade of a walnut tree several yards across the lawn. He dropped onto a bench beneath the big old tree and pulled out his cell phone to call his office.

“Morrissey Demolition.”

“Barbara, I need you to cancel my afternoon appointments.”

“Sure, boss. Should I reschedule?”

“No. Tell them I’m dealing with an emergency situation and you’ll call tomorrow to arrange another time.”

“All right. Everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine. I should be in the office late this afternoon. Thanks, Barbara.” He hung up and dialed the cell-phone number for Gray Stewart, an old friend and a detective with the Seattle Police Department. While he waited for Gray to answer, he watched Chloe through the open hall door. She walked back and forth as she spoke, pausing to ask and answer questions, unmistakably passionate about the subject under discussion, whatever it might be.

“Hello.”

“Gray, it’s Jake. I’ve got a problem. I think whoever’s been following me has started stalking a woman I’m seeing.”

“The brunette in the Tribune photo?”